STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE: The Citadel is in compliance with Core Requirement 10.

RATIONALE FOR JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE:

The Citadel provides student support programs, services, and activities consistent with its mission "to educate and prepare graduates to become principled leaders in all walks of life by instilling the core values of The Citadel in a challenging intellectual environment" [Institutional Mission Statement (Reference 1)].

For cadets, it does so in large part by integrating traditional academic degree programs with the disciplined, regimented environment for which The Citadel and other military colleges are well known, and by providing services and support that encourage personal development in a variety of ways within that environment.

For graduate students, and for undergraduates not in the Corps of Cadets, it does so by promoting discipline, honor, and leadership in the classroom and by encouraging participation in activities that build character and offer opportunities to develop leadership out of class.

Thus The Citadel's student support programs, services, and activities "promote student learning and enhance the total growth and development of students" by emphasizing the college's core values — academics, duty, honor, morality, discipline, and diversity (Mission Statement, Reference 1). Specifically, they are unified and governed by The Citadel's "Philosophy of Student Support Programs, Services, and Activities" (Reference 2), an overarching statement of purpose that commits them "to encourage the development and integration of personal values and habits that will remain with the individual for life." This is their common goal.

The Citadel's numerous student support programs, services, and activities — most of which have their own web sites — are categorized and listed in a linked table (Reference 3), and a quick review of their number, names, and types shows that they are consistent with the college's "Philosophy of Student Support Programs, Services, and Activities" (Reference 2). However, for illustrative purposes, the outline below demonstrates how selected programs, services, and activities are consistent with specific elements of the statement of philosophy.

(An explanatory note is appropriate here for readers who may be unfamiliar with the organization and structure of military colleges. While most non-military colleges designate a vice-presidential-level administrator to oversee student affairs, The Citadel appropriately assigns many comparable duties to the Commandant of Cadets (also a vice-presidential level administrator) because of the overwhelming importance the college's military regimen assumes in the daily lives of cadets. For example, the Commandant oversees the operation of cadet dormitory (barracks) life, almost all cadet disciplinary actions, the daily schedule to which cadets must adapt, and even the Regimental Band. However, it would generally be inappropriate for certain student services (the Counseling Center, Career Services, the Writing and Learning Center, and the Financial Aid Office, for example) to answer to a person whose background is predominantly military. For this reason, most student services and activities at The Citadel that require professional specialists are under the control of the Provost or of another vice president (See the college Organization and Function Chart.) and of the Student Development Committee, an advisory committee chaired by the Provost [Reference 4]. In such an environment, The Citadel maintains philosophical consistency through its "Philosophy of Student Support Programs, Services, and Activities" and through the general leadership of the President rather than through lower-level administrative control.)

The Citadel's "Philosophy of Student Support Programs, Services, and Activities" specifies seven ways in which student support programs, services, and activities may promote student growth and development in accordance with its mission statement. In the outline below, a handful of the college's many programs and activities are used to illustrate how as a group they conform to that philosophy.

. . . promoting discipline, responsibility, character development, and self-confidence;

• The Corps of Cadets (Every cadet is challenged to accept significant responsibility within the Corps.)
• Military Interest Clubs
• Intramural Athletics
• Religious Activities

. . . equipping students with skills necessary for academic success;

• Office of Access Services, Instruction, and Support
• Office of Writing and Learning Strategies
• Counseling Center
• The Gold Star Journal

. . . developing leadership skills;

• The Corps of Cadets (The Corps is operated as a "leadership laboratory.")
• Cordell Airborne Ranger Company
• M.B.A. Association
• Graduate School Counseling Association
• Degree Requirements (Every cadet is required to take one ROTC course each semester for four years.)

. . . enhancing moral and spiritual development;

• The Corps of Cadets (The Corps subscribes to and administers its own honor system, and the regiment and each battalion has a Religious Affairs Officer.)
• Religious Activities

. . . increasing cultural awareness and the appreciation of diversity;

• The Corps of Cadets (Each cadet company has a Human Affairs Team whose mission is to focus on human dignity in all its facets.)
• Office of Multicultural Student Services and International Studies (Sponsors activities and programs such as Black History Month.)
• Fine Arts Series Programs administered by Office of Cadet Activities

. . . encouraging students to become responsible professionals in their chosen fields; and

• M.B.A. Association
• Graduate School Counseling Association
• Inn of Court (Pre-law society that emphasizes preparation for law school.)
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

. . . providing activities that promote personal health and physical fitness

• The Corps of Cadets (Prescribed physical fitness standards are maintained, and each company fields a number of intramural athletics teams.)
• Sports and Recreational Clubs
• Degree Requirements (Every cadet is required to take two two-credit courses on the fundamentals of health and physical fitness, plus two noncredit activity courses.)

 

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